Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to a capacitive charge pump, and more specifically it relates to a charge pump with a discharge path for rapidly discharging the output voltage of the charge pump.
Description of the Related Art
The demand for portable applications such as cellular phones is ever-increasing. Charge pump-type DC/DC converters are often accommodated in ICs of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones powered by rechargeable battery power supplies. These charge pumps need to be as small as possible so that they take up only a small area of the IC. Capacitive charge pumps are not only low-cost and simple compared to inductor-based converters, but also highly compact for small current consumption.
In application of MEMS-based high-definition (HD) Digital Microphone (DMIC), the embedded charge pump can be discharged and then charged to a lower voltage to achieve a high dynamic range. Therefore, a charge pump with a discharge path is urgently required.